I wait to give thee pardon, love and rest.
Is not My joy to see thee safe and blest?
Return! I wait to hear once more thy voice,
To welcome thee anew, and bid thy heart rejoice.

Return,

O fallen, yet not lost!

Canst thou forget the life for thee laid down,
The taunts, the scourging, and the thorny crown?
When o'er thee first My spotless robe I spread,
And poured the oil of joy upon thy head,

How did thy weakening heart within thee burn,
Canst thou remember all, and wilt thou not return?

Return,

O chosen of my love!

Fear not to meet thy beckoning Saviour's view;
Long ere I called thee by thy name, I knew
That very treacherously thou wouldst deal;
Now have I seen thy ways, yet I will heal.
Return! Wilt thou yet linger far from Me?
My wrath is turned away, I have redeemèd thee.

THE THOUGHTS OF GOD.

What know we of God's thoughts? One word of gold A volume doth enfold.

They are" not ours!"

Ours? what are they? their value and their powers? So evanescent, that while thousands fleet

Across thy busy brain,
Only a few remain

To set their seal on memory's strange consistence
Of these, some worthless, some a life-regret,
That we would fain forget;

And very few are rich and great and sweet;
And fewer still are lasting gain,

And these most often born of pain,
Or sprung from strong concussion into strong exist-

ence.

Now turn we from the darkness to the light,
From dissonance to pure and full accord!

"My thoughts are not as your thoughts, saith the

Lord,

Nor are your ways as My ways. As the height
Of heaven above the earth, so are My ways,
My thoughts to yours;-out of your sight,
Above your praise."

O oracle most grand!
Thus teaching by sublimest negative
What by a positive we could not understand,
Or understanding, live!

And now, search fearlessly
The imperfections and obscurity,
The weakness and impurity,

Of all our thoughts. On each discovery
Write "Not as ours!" Then in every line
Behold God's glory shine

In humbling yet sweet contrast, as we view
His thoughts, Eternal, Strong, and Holy, Infinite, and
True.

They say there is a hollow, safe and still,
A point of coolness and repose

Within the centre of a flame, where life might dwell
Unharmed and unconsumed, as in a luminous shell;
Which the bright walls of fire inclose
In breathless splendor barriers that no foes
Could pass at will.

There is a point of rest

At the great centre of the cyclone's force,
A silence at its secret source ;—

A little child might slumber undistressed,
Without the ruffle of one fairy curl,

In that strange central calm amid the mighty whirl.

So, in the centre of these thoughts of God,
Cyclones of power, consuming glory-fire-
As we fall overawed

Upon our faces, and are lifted higher
By His great gentleness, and carried nigher
Than unredeemed angels, till we stand

Even in the hollow of His hand

Nay, more! we lean upon His breast

There, there we find a point of perfect rest
And glorious safety. There we see

His thoughts to usward, thoughts of peace
That stoop in tenderest love; that still increase
With increase of our need; that never change;
That never fail, or falter, or forget.
O pity infinite!

O royal mercy free!

O gentle climax of the depth and height Of God's most precious thoughts, most wonderful, most strange!

"For I am poor and needy, yet

The Lord Himself, Jehovah, thinketh upon me."

CONSECRATION HYMN.

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and "beautiful" for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use

Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.

Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

THE SECRET OF A HAPPY DAY.

Just to let thy Father do

What He will;

Just to know that He is true,
And be still.

Just to follow hour by hour
As He leadeth;

Just to draw the moment's power
As it needeth.

Just to trust Him, this is all !
Then the day will surely be

Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall,

Bright and blessed, calm and free.

Just to trust, and yet to ask
Guidance still;

Take the training or the task
As He will.

Just to take the loss or gain,
As He sends it;

Just to take the joy or pain,
As He lends it.

He who formed thee for His praise
Will not miss the gracious aim;

So to-day and all thy days

Shall be moulded for the same.

Just to leave in His dear hand
Little things,

All we cannot understand,

All that stings.

Just to let Him take the care

Sorely pressing,

Finding all we let Him bear

Changed to blessing.

This is all! and yet the way

Marked by Him who loves thee best; Secret of a happy day,

Secret of His promised rest.

THE UNFAILING ONE.

He who hath led will lead

All through the wilderness;

He who hath fed will feed;

He who hath blessed will bless;
He who hath heard thy cry
Will never close His ear;

He who hath marked thy faintest sigh,
Will not forget thy tear.

He loveth always, faileth never;
So rest on Him to-day, forever.

He who hath made thee whole
Will heal thee day by day;
He who hath spoken to thy soul
Hath many things to say;
He who hath gently taught

Yet more will make thee know;
He who so wondrously hath wrought
Yet greater things will show.
He loveth always, faileth never;
So rest on Him to-day, forever.